Laxey came flying out the traps and should have led in the first minute when Ethan Hawley beat his man, rolled the ball back to Sam Gelling but he put his effort wide.
Gelling had another chance only moments later as he was played in by Will Cowin. The pass took him wide but it required a smart save from Peel’s Ryan Tate to keep it at 0-0.
But, if Peel thought they were off the hook, they were very wrong as, from the resulting corner, Gelling picked out his unmarked captain Tom Cowin - who was given so much room he was almost in his own postcode - and made no mistake to power his header home 1-0.
That goal seemed to spark something in Peel as Lewis Moran did well to work some space, but when he cut back to Scott Horne he could only send his volley wide.
Laxey, sensing they could get in behind Peel almost at will in the early stages, worked the ball wide to Brody Patience who beat his man and crossed back to Charlie Robinson but he lifted his effort over the bar.
It looked like Laxey had got their second goal as a corner, which hung up over Tate, was bundled over the line by Gelling, only for assistant Stephen Dowdall to rightly flag that the ball had gone out and come back in again.
Peel created a couple of efforts before the halfway point, but neither Horne nor skipper Matt Woods could really test George Burrows in the Miners’ goal.
The league champions thought they should’ve had a penalty early in the second half as Moran charged down a clearance and went down when through against Burrows: there was contact, but referee Andrew Lodge was unmoved by the protests.
Despite Peel’s bright start to the second half, it was Laxey who struck next when Dave Reynolds was left unmarked at the back post from a free-kick and his scuffed effort bounced up and over Tate to give the Miners a 2-0 lead.
The westerners almost broke back immediately when Lee Gale was played in over the top. He lifted a shot over Burrows, but was unfortunate to see his effort land hit the side netting.
Gale would soon be the one to find Peel their goal as he was brought down in the box and, with the penalty given, he got up and dusted himself down to send Burrows the wrong way andd make it 2-1 with the clock ticking down.
He possibly should’ve equalised moments later when played through, but the ball got stuck underneath him and the chance was gone.
Any hope Peel had in the remaining minutes was ended when Laxey broke and the ball fell to Patience who capped off a fine display with a fine goal, bending a half-volley beyond the reach of Tate to make it 3-1.
Peel will pick up their league title after tonight’s game away at Ramsey.
Laxey don’t play again until next weekend when St Mary’s come to Glen Road in the next round of the Hospital Cup. They have had a real Jekyll and Hyde sort of a season, but if they can keep this team together and play with more consistency, don’t be surprised if the Miners are challenging at the top of the league next year.
ROUND-UP
Elsewhere in the first round of the Hospital Cup, Ayre United brushed aside DHSOB 6-1 in Andreas thanks to braces from Jason Craine and Jonny Shields as well as further strikes from Ste Barbour and Nathan Craine.
Rushen were also in fine fettle as they overcame Douglas Royal 4-0 at Ballafletcher thanks largely to an Eddie Kangah hat-trick and he was joined on the scoresheet by Christos Loizides.
The remaining game in the Hospital Cup saw Dean Leece and Harry Rothwell fire St John’s to a 2-0 victory away at Onchan. Marown v Douglas Athletic was awarded to the home team.